So, as a start, this summer I made strides in the yard and garden. Beds, borders, features, lots of attention to weeding and regular mowing and pruning. The result is something that brought a smile, the first one in almost a year. Oh I don't really mean I haven't smiled, I've pulled plenty a wry, or cynical smile. A sad, or a hopeful smile. But this was the smile of progress, of cautiously coming outside the protective shell and daring to hope that happy times may still be possible.

I'm sorry that I may not agree with everyone else here on political issues. There's so much misunderstanding and so many misconceptions on both sides that neither trusts the other to know how to tie their own shoe laces. And that's wrong. But seeing as neither side is ready to change...how can anything ever go beyond this stand off?

No more to say about it. Period.

Autumn is returning once again, and with it, hope.